Friday, September 30, 2011

Here's what I recently wrote my friend and computer expert Michael McFann:

"I have a question about Thunderbird that has been driving me crazy for a long time.

Tbird's find function works great.It will find all emails mentioning "shark" for instance.

But if I am actually within an email message -- I have it open, I can even see the thread (see screengrab) -- I can't for the life of me figure out how to see what folder that message is in.I can move the message to a folder, but I can't see the current folder.

Perhaps you can tell me what I am missing. "

Mike replied, and his answer works!

"The column header bar above the found messages allows customization of the columns displayed. Click on the little icon to the far right on the bar to show a drop-down menu of columns you can display. Choose the one called "Location" to display the folder the message is stored within."

I have recently had to do a lot of work with PDF files. One of the jobs is to print emails to a PDF file, but then to separate all of those emails so that they are on separate PDFs.

I do my work on Macs, so the below procedures apply to Macs.

I use Thunderbird to get my emails, and I organize emails into folders. To print all emails in a folder, I have found that if I select a bunch of emails, Thunderbird only prints summaries of the emails. So I've been exporting all emails as a .mbox file, then bringing that .mbox file into Entourage 2004 (part of Microsoft Office for the Mac up to version 2008). Entourage then can print all selected emails as a PDF, rather than just a summary of the emails.

To extract separate emails from the long PDF, I use an old, old version of Adobe Acrobat. It still works on my Snow Leopard machine, which is kind of amazing, but it is old and clunky. Buying a new version seems wasteful since the program is expensive, I don't use the program all the time, and I know that there are alternatives out there. I try not to use or buy Adobe software if at all possible, because I have had so much trouble with their registration and activation of licenses for software, and in trying to transfer software licenses when I buy new computers.

My friend and computer expert Michael McFann suggested this instead:

"If the task is to simply extract pages from an existing PDF file, then OS X's built-in app "Preview" will allow you to extract one or more pages from an existing pdf.

For example, I have included a document on Facebook security and a second pdf that has just one of the pages from the original pdf file.

The trick is to make sure you display the sidebar which displays the page thumbnails and simply drag/drop the pages. You can also combine pdf's this way. "

Sunday, September 18, 2011

I don't travel as much as I used to. When I was traveling six or nine months out of the year, then having a Blackberry with AT&T was an essential tool. You could get emails on the Blackberry all over the world. The AT&T network is GSM, rather than Verizon's CDMA, so it works in far more countries than Verizon.

It was pretty awesome and relatively inexpensive when I was overseas. I could get emails in the most remote places, like Sorong (eastern Irian Jaya) and off Komodo Island, Indonesia! I saw Eric Cheng do this and went and got myself one. The Blackberry was well-suited for getting emails, but not web browsing, so it was relatively easy to avoid huge data charges.

While I liked the Blackberry, I hated the commitment (I didn't use my Blackberry when I was home). I've been waiting for the last few years for a company that would offer a Blackberry plan with international capability that is around $35 per month (my old rate, but 2-year contract), would work overseas, and could go month-to-month. There's been nothing. Virgin Mobile sells a Blackberry, with a plan that is about $35 per month, but they use the Sprint Network -- which is CDMA and is unlikely to work overseas. T-Mobile is a possibility, but as far as I can tell (and their plans and rates are always changing, despite what the website says, and despite any promises their sales staff in their stores make) the cheapest Blackberry plan is $50 per month (T-Mobile's network is GSM, a good thing, and they do seem to offer prepaid Blackberry plans rather than only long-term commitments). AT&T's Blackberry plans seem to be all expensive and require long-term commitments.

So I am going to try my iPad (version 1) which offers AT&T's 3G network. I've heard that using an iPhone or iPad when traveling internationally can result in huge, surprising data charges. I've done my research and hope that the below might help minimize my data charges.

First, I will strive to use my iPad when overseas ONLY as an email device. I will try not to use the web unless I am using a wifi network.

The biggest problem with getting emails is if someone sends you a large attachment. From my experience with the Blackberry and reading about data charges, I can see that downloading a small photograph of my wife and dogs can cost as much as $20!! Therefore, finding a way to NOT download attachments is important.

Here's my step-by-step solution to this problem. I'm going to try this on my trip to Vancouver Island, Canada, coming up. I'll let this blog know if this works or not.

Summary of email settings when traveling with ipad.

First, having Gmail accounts is important. Gmail accounts will forward emails to other email accounts. All my accounts are Gmail accounts, even those that have my norbertwu.com suffix/domain --- these are “Gmail for Apps” email addresses. Setting up an email address that uses a custom domain name like "norbertwu.com" and is administered through Google Apps is great, but should be covered elsewhere.

Create a couple of Gmail accounts in addition to the ones you normally use. Let’s call them mytravel_emails@gmail.com and mytravel_emails_w_attachments@gmail.com. Create these accounts on your iPad too.

1. Set your primary email address(es) to forward all emails to mytravel_emails@gmail.com .

2. Set mytravel_emails@gmail.com to filter incoming emails. Emails with attachments are immediately filtered, sent to the account archive, and therefore not sent to my ipad.

Emails with attachments are also forwarded to mytravel_emails_w_attachments@gmail.com.

3. When traveling and using the AT&T network, check only the email account mytravel_emails@gmail.com. This email account ONLY shows emails that have no attachments.

In summary, here’s what happens. Any emails with NO attachments are sent to my iPad. Since there are no attachments, I will get only emails that don’t use a lot of data. Any emails with attachments are sent to the second email address that I will check when I have wifi.

On the ipad:

It is possible to turn off email accounts so they won’t check emails when traveling. Turn off your primary email account when traveling. Turn off the email account that is receiving attachments. mytravel_emails_w_attachments@gmail.com.

When overseas or when data usage is a concern, check only mytravel_emails@gmail.com which will show ONLY emails without attachments.

There are certainly lots of other ways to do this. For instance, to check for emails with attachments:

The original forwarding email account will show both emails with and without attachments. I coud search for all emails with attachments using a web browser at the original forwarding email account. I could check mytravel_emails@gmail.com’s Archive for emails with attachments only.

There are other things you can do, such as auto-notifications when you are gone, and setting your reply-to address to be your primary email account. You can even tell folks who send you attachments that you are traveling and may not get their email since it had an attachment.

The above is my plan. It has not been tested. I hope that this will help fellow travelers who wish to keep some of their hard-earned dollars from the greedy hands of the cellphone companies, but I must add this cautionary note: Do this yourself at your own risk. I have not tested the above overseas yet and do not know how it will work.

During my research, here’s a question and answer that I came across on the web:

Is there a way not to download attachments in emails in ipad? no, attachments over a certain size are automatically downloaded. Over a certain size, you have to click on the icon to download the attachment. General rule to avoid data charges: Only check using wifi.

Note that in Gmail’s filters, there’s a way to search for emails WITH attachments, but no easy way to search for emails WITHOUT attachments. This is why I had to go through the relatively convoluted process above.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

I would like to think that I am pretty good about avoiding scams. If someone calls me up and tells me that my grandson Timmy is calling, and needs money sent to a Western Union right away, I won't be sending money anytime soon. Nor will I be sending money to the guy in Nigeria who keeps writing me. I have to check and see if I ever posted on my blog the scams based around counterfeit cashier's checks. Quickly -- if someone sends you a cashier's check, and even if your bank tells you that the cashier's check is fine -- don't believe your bank. Wait 3-4 weeks until your bank absolutely and definitely confirms that the funds are in your account. It's astonishing to me that I could take a counterfeit check to my bank (BofA) and that the teller would tell me that the check looks fine but she can't promise anything.

Here's another scam. I almost fell for it. I have a car listed on craigslist for sale. I got this in the email:

I clicked on the link, and a page that looked like a normal craigslist page opened up. Except it wanted my login information. That's the only thing that stopped me. Normally, if I am viewing a link on craigslist, I don't need to supply my login information.

I then looked at the link that my browser was trying to open. It was something completely unrelated to craigslist.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

After reading the below, if any of you would like to call Chase to tell them that an invitation to the Mill Valley Film Festival does not qualify as important account information, here's the contact information:

Here's part of what Bonnie Casper, Email Customer Service Advisor, wrote me when I complained. Her phone is 1-800-436-7927:

Account emails advising account information or rewardsprogram information are not solicitations. These emailsare sent to notify you of important information regardingyour account. Unfortunately we are unable to stop these emails from being sent. {Bold put in by Norb}

***********

I keep tight control over my email Inbox. Therefore it really irritates me when companies that I do business with send spam, BS, marketing emails and try to tell me that these are important emails relating to my business with them. Most of the time, the companies take an arrogant attitude to spamming you, and won't even provide a way to unsubscribe from their "important account updates."

I'll be posting some examples.

Here's a letter I wrote to Chase:

Dear Chase:

I got this email from Chase.com, attached and as text below. It is for the Mill Valley Film Festival.

Reading further, this email states:

ABOUT THIS MESSAGE:This service message was delivered to you as a Chase Credit Card customer to provide you with account updates and information about your card benefits. Chase values your privacy and your preferences.

This is not fraudulent, but it is a serious abuse by Chase. I have gone online to try to turn off this kind of spam from Chase but cannot find a way to do so. There is no way to unsubscribe given in this email.

Please do not abuse your customer's emails and trust in your bank by sending marketing emails and labeling them as service messages or account updates.

If I remove my email address from my account so that I don't get these emails, then that means that I will miss really important emails from Chase.

Don't abuse your customer's email addresses!!

Signed, Norbert Wu

**********************I got this reply from Chase. Hey folks out there, if you are outraged by this sort of thing, perhaps you can write this Chase guy and let him know what you think about spams.

Date: 09-02-2011 14:21:20From: Credit Card SupportSubject: Re: General CommentsMessage:Dear Norbert Wu,Thank you for contacting Chase about your privacy choices.Your email address has been removed from receiving emailsolicitations. However, if offers were prepared for youbefore we fulfilled your request; you may still receivethose offers for up to 10 days from the date your requestwas processed. If you change your email, you will need toupdate your request to include your new email.Account emails advising account information or rewardsprogram information are not solicitations. These emailsare sent to notify you of important information regardingyour account. Unfortunately we are unable to stop theseemails from being sent.If you have any further questions, please reply using theSecure Message Center.Thank you,Bonnie CasperEmail Customer Service Advisor1-800-436-7927Account is owned by Chase Bank USA, N.A. and may beserviced by its affiliates.********************************************************************DO YOU KNOW AT CHASE ONLINE YOU CAN ....- Gain instant access to view and download your creditcard information.- See and pay your bill online- Transfer balances- Change your address and much more....**********************************************************

Today is Septmeber 14. I got another email from Chase about the stinking Mill Valley film festival. But this time, there was a way to unsubscribe. We'll see if Chase really solved the problem or not.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Wow, the customer service and marketing at Gander Mountain is really good. Would you want to place another order with this merchant?

They advertise a good deal on the web, you place an order. The order is confirmed.Two days later, they tell you that the price was a mistake, and they are cancelling your order.Then they put you on their email marketing list.

Smart or not so smart?

These guys are not as bad as Staples, who took several orders of mine last year, cancelled all of them, but notified me of only 1 of 3 cancelled orders. They just didn't bother or care.

Thank you for your recent order with Gander Mountain. Unfortunately, the item(s) that you purchased were priced incorrectly on our website and, due to this error, your order for xxx has been canceled. Please click here for more details regarding our misprint policy.

If you would still like to purchase the item(s), please place another order on our website as the pricing has been corrected. Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions, please contact us at 888-542-6337 or email service@gandermtn.com. Thank you.

We photographers out here are trying to find time to do what we love and spend time in nature. We did not get into this to respond to rude folks who want something from us, want something in a rush, and are then incredibly rude and insulting if we say no.

In short, we did not respond to several messages from this nonprofit that they sent over the Labor Day weekend. I suppose William's response from our office was snotty, but being deluged by emails when we came into the office on Tuesday was a bit much.

But do I then deserve to be insulted by her reply? Here's her reply, which I consider to be way out of line:

"Many environmental photographers support ourefforts to conserve the species that they are photographing and makingmoney from. I sent 3 emails last night as I had sent an email to'office' two days ago and had not had a reply and I am running out oftime to complete this report."

Yo, folks in nonprofits. You pay your printers, your electricity bills, your staff, your janitors, your garbage collectors, the post office for all your mailings. Why are you always asking photographers for free usage of their images? Why not just pay photographers like you pay yourselves.

Please contact this user using this email:roberta.dixon@wilderness.org.au

User's comment:The Wilderness Society are in the process of writing an icon report forthe North marine bioregion (Shark Bay, WA to NT/WA border) for use incommunity consultation and to submit to the Federal Government's as partof their bioregional planning process. As such, we are trying to sourcesome beautiful marine images for this bioregion and a photo ofAnoxypristis cuspidata specifically (one of the species we are trying toprotect). I was wondering if you have a special rate for non-commercial,NGO

The Wilderness Society (Australia) are in the process of writing an iconreport for the Northern Australian bioregion (NT/WA border in the westto the Tip of Cape York in the east) for use in community consultationand to submit to the Federal Government as part of their bioregionalplanning process. The Australian Federal Government are presentlytrying to work out which areas in this marine bioregion they will beprotecting - we are trying to encourage them to protect more rather thanthe less option they presently have on the table. As such, we aretrying to source some beautiful marine images for this bioregion. Specifically I was after a photo of a Knifetooth sawfish (Anoxypristiscuspidata) and found your one on animalsandearth. I was wondering ifyou had a 2-4MB copy of this photo we would be able to use in thisreport (with full accreditation obviously)? As with most things in thislife, we need it ASAP.

The Wilderness Society are in the process of writing an icon report forthe Australian Northern bioregion (NT/WA border in the west to the Tipof Cape York in the east) for use in community consultation and tosubmit to the Federal Government as part of their bioregional planningprocess (- they are trying to decide what areas of the commonwealthwaters in the NT are worthy of protection). As such, we are trying tosource some beautiful marine images for this bioregion. The KnifetoothSawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata) is one of the species we are trying tosource for this report.

I saw this image on your website. I need the image to be between2-4MB. I also wanted to check on the use of photos for non-commercialeducational/conservational purposes by an NGO. Do you have a specialrate for use in these circumstances? We will be looking at a very smallprint run (>600, mainly for politicians) and some PDF copies of thereport to be made available during the period of consultation. We willalso need it ASAP.

I did not ask for you to donate the image, I was just wondering if therewas a special rate. Many environmental photographers support ourefforts to conserve the species that they are photographing and makingmoney from. I sent 3 emails last night as I had sent an email to'office' two days ago and had not had a reply and I am running out oftime to complete this report.

Thanks for your efforts,

Roberta

On 7 September 2011 00:27, Norbert Wu Productions Office> wrote:

please find another image. We do not donate images to nonprofits and particularly not ones that bombard us with emails and are in a rush.

Sorry to be direct. We have a FAQ page that addresses this on our website.

The Wilderness Society are in the process of writing an icon report for the Australian Northern bioregion (NT/WA border in the west to the Tip of Cape York in the east) for use in community consultation and to submit to the Federal Government as part of their bioregional planning process (- they are trying to decide what areas of the commonwealth waters in the NT are worthy of protection). As such, we are trying to source some beautiful marine images for this bioregion. The Knifetooth Sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata) is one of the species we are trying to source for this report.

I saw this image on your website. I need the image to be between 2-4MB. I also wanted to check on the use of photos for non-commercial educational/conservational purposes by an NGO. Do you have a special rate for use in these circumstances? We will be looking at a very small print run (>600, mainly for politicians) and some PDF copies of the report to be made available during the period of consultation. We will also need it ASAP.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

If I ask a favor of someone, I don't try to take advantage of that person.

As an example of a nonprofit organization requesting my office to donate an image, but then presenting my office with an outrageous contract, here’s an email exchange between myself and a photo editor at Conservation International.I am putting this here so that other photo editors at nonprofit organizations don’t make the same mistake.

Hello,I work for Conservation International’s Global Marine Division in media and communications. I am assisting in media outreach for an article to be published in PLoS ONE in the coming weeks titled “Global Conservation Priorities for Marine Turtles.” The paper is a unique global priority-setting analysis that lists the most endangered and the healthiest sea turtle populations in the world based on thousands of data points and input from dozens of experts.

To coincide with the release of the paper, we will be sending press releases and posting blogs and slideshows to raise awareness about at-risk populations of sea turtles and also to highlight conservation successes.

Ideally, this will include at least one image from each healthy and each endangered population. We would like to request permission to : 1) use the attached image on CI’s website to promote this story; and 2) make this image available to media for use in connection with this story.

The license agreement for the desired image is attached, along with a low-res JPEG of the image. I would be very grateful if we could get your and the photographer’s permission to use this image for the purposes described above. If the terms are agreeable, I would appreciate it if you could please send a high-res JPEG along with the signed agreement.

For good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, I, Norbert Wu, hereby grant to Conservation International Foundation, including all subsidiaries and affiliates thereof (hereinafter referred to singularly and collectively as “CI”), a royalty-free license, including the right to sub-license, to exercise all rights of whatever kind or nature now or hereafter protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all foreign countries in and to the photo titled “PNG0031_Hawksbill turtle”, for the sole non-commercial use to promote an online story of the published paper “Global Conservation Priorities for Marine Turtles” on Conservation International’s website and other press outreach.

I represent and warrant:(i) that I am the sole owner of the Photographs;(ii) that I hold the complete and undivided copyrights in the Photographs; (iii) that I have the full right and power to make this license;(iv) that there are no rights outstanding which would diminish, encumber or impair the full enjoyment or exercise of the rights herein granted to CI;(v) that I have obtained any required releases from any person or for any property depicted in the Photographs; and(vi) that I have no knowledge of any objection by any person or entity, or other third party acting on behalf of the depicted subjects, against the exercise of any of the rights granted hereunder; I hereby bind myself to advise CI immediately if any such objection comes to our knowledge in the future.

I understand and agree that if any of the above representations and warranties are found to be false or inaccurate, that I shall indemnify and hold harmless CI and its officers, directors, members, employees, and agents, from and against any and all claims of third parties, including losses, damages, legal fees, and all other expenses.

It is understood and agreed that CI, as well as any sub-licensee of CI, shall submit to me a copy of the specific application and credit me, Norbert Wu, as the copyright owner of my photos:

I had a good laugh when I received your email and looked at the contract language (which I converted to a PDF and have attached). I am assuming that CI is not offering to pay for the use of this image. So my assumption is this: CI wants to use my image for free. CI expects me and my office to spend the time to peruse, understand, and approve the legal language in your contract. If I sign this legal document, it seems that CI then acquires the image and can license the image as it wishes.

Why in the world would I allow this? More to the point, why would CI ask for a photographer(s) to donate their hard-earned images (which have required thousands of dollars to acquire) and also saddle the photographer with a predatory contract that has this onerous legal language that might slip by less-informed photographers?

I am offended by this request and its accompanying contract. I've already sent it to a couple of colleagues. They've both found the contract language to be objectionable and disrespectful to photographers. I am bcc:ing a few more colleagues on this email. Perhaps some of them will chime in on this issue.

Here's the language that I find most objectionable (bold emphasis added by me):

...{I, Norbert Wu, hereby grant to Conservation International Foundation, including all subsidiaries and affiliates thereof (hereinafter referred to singularly and collectively as “CI”), a royalty-free license, including the right to sub-license, to exercise all rights of whatever kind or nature now or hereafter....

If I ask a favor of someone, I don't try to take advantage of that person. If I need a ride and ask to borrow a friend's car, I don't have him sign a document that then gives me ownership of that car or lets me make money by renting the car out to the end of eternity. If CI is going to ask photographers for their help in publicizing its causes, then CI will hopefully reconsider this sort of onerous, predatory contract and instead draft a simple, clear, easy document that will make a photographer happy that he/she has helped.

Sorry to be so direct.

PS -- the image that is on the PDF is not my image. The image that you attached to your original email to me is indeed one of my images.

I apologize for the confusion. I am not a legal expert and was given this release as a template to use. I will certainly take your concerns to CI’s legal department and see what we can do to fix these issues. We are incredibly grateful for any donation from photographers and of course do not want to upset you or the photographers we have built arelationship with in any way. We do not sub-license, it was in the language that was approved by my superiors. We only use images for non-commercial and media uses to promote CI’s work and achievements. We never receive money for others’ images and we always credit the photographer. Where possible, we purchase rights to use images, howeverwe are a non-profit and have great budget constraints so we cannot always do this.

Almost all of the wildlife photographers that I know are dedicated to their subjects, are strongly in favor of conserving nature, and are generally green in their outlook. Yet ask any photographer about the issue of nonprofits asking to use images for free for their uses, and just about every photographer will give you multiple stories of being abused by these nonprofits.

I'll post a few letters from nonprofits along with my reaction and some fellow photographers' reactions. Here are a few of my thoughts first.

>Iam working on a non-profit endeavor, and I would like to use your images for free. Is that possible?

We make our living from photography, plus it consumes work time to administer and negotiate the use of photographs for nonprofit organizations. Therefore there are costs and considerations involved that must be negotiated and found acceptable for everyone involved.

Due to our staff time in tracking these kinds of permissions, we cannot carry on long, tortuous conversations about usages and images.When we donate our images to nonprofit organizations, these transactions generally take three times more time than our regular business.This is because folks at nonprofits and academic institutions usually do not understand standard business practices that graphic professionals do, and we end up having to spend significant time explaining such practices.

1.If we grant you the use of an image, particularly at no charge, then common courtesy and professionalism demands that we get a copy (a xerox copy or a scan via email is fine if that is all you can afford) of the page in which our image is used.

I will always remember a researcher whom I considered a friend asking to use one of my images.I allowed her to use it.She never sent a copy of the paper (we asked), never said thanks -- nothing.A few years later she wrote to ask to use the image again.I initially gave her the same treatment she had given to me -- no response.Her requests became more and more urgent.My office finally replied to her with a "no." She was upset and asked what she had done to deserve such treatment. The question that remains in my mind is why she assumed that we'd continue to allow use of the image in more and more publications, when she never even bothered to say thanks, and never sent us a copy of the use of the image, even though we asked several times.

This is a situation I encounter a great deal with scientists (and other photographers): they ask for favors, don't say thanks, don't follow up with a copy of the use of the image, and often don't even respond if I ever need something from them.Why should my office be the only party that responds and is professional enough to take care of all necessary details?

2.Publishers like these university presses fib routinely to get what they want.SCIENCE, the magazine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, wanted to use my image on the cover of their magazine once.We asked if they normally paid for the use of images, and they said that they never did.I went to the library and looked up some past issues, saw an image by a stock agency that I knew, called them up and verified that they had been paid.I was appalled that an organization like the American Association for the Advancement of Science would lie about something like that.

3.It frequently happens that when we try to do a favor, the favor turns into a nightmare where we have to spend an inordinate amount of time with logistics of delivering an image, the publisher is not quite happy with the image supplied, the publisher wants exclusive rights to use our images for the rest of eternity throughout the universe, etc.Our patience for such situations has worn thin.

We will supply a JPG color image that we know works well for publication.It is up to the publisher to work with that image, and we hope that their level of expertise is professional, they don't leave things to the last minute, they don't ask us to sign 10-page-long contracts that give them the rights to use the image however they want in whatever media in the universe in perpetuity that their lawyers want.Faced with any kind of long or unreasonable contract, my office will have to withdraw our offer for the use of our images.We don’t have the time to review or approve such long and onerous contracts.

It is usually far easier for our office to work directly with someone from the publisher to negotiate the rights to use our images, rather than working through a researcher.We will always need the publisher to send a contract that outlines the terms needed, and to accept an invoice from us that outlines the terms needed.

4.Our normal rate for usage of photographs in books is on the order of hundreds of dollars for a 1/4 page use, with print run limited to 40,000.

All this kind of information -- print run, size on the page, etc is what our office routinely asks for when granting a license to use one of our images.We must ask and receive confirmation on all such details as we do keep track of such things.It's business.Our business is licensing the rights to the use of my images, and we have to be as meticulous in the licensing and rights granting as scientists need to be in collecting and analyzing data for their papers.Thanks for understanding.

5.For some researchers and nonprofits, we are willing to allow the use of up to three images for the fee of $75.We feel that this is generous and it barely covers the cost of our time in tracking rights and giving permissions.

6.I hope that the publisher and any folks who we are donating the use of our images for the low rate does not take this for granted, and word does not spread that our office is granting rights to images for the low rate of $75.This would destroy what existing business we have.